- Written by Thomas Mackintosh
- BBC News
TikTok said a potential ban on the app in the US would “trample on the free speech rights” of 170 million Americans.
The US House of Representatives voted on Saturday to ban TikTok if the app's owners do not sever ties with China.
The bill is part of a U.S. foreign policy package that includes aid for Ukraine and could be passed as early as next week.
In recent months, U.S. authorities have expressed alarm over TikTok's popularity among young people.
They allege that TikTok's owner, ByteDance, is subservient to the Chinese government, an accusation the company has repeatedly denied.
The House of Representatives first voted on the future of TikTok, passing the latest divestment and banning bill by a vote of 360-58.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill next week, and US President Joe Biden has previously said he would sign it.
A TikTok spokesperson said the bill would “trample on the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses and cost the US economy $24 billion a year”. “It shuts down platforms where people can contribute.”
TikTok said ByteDance is “not an agency of China or any other country.” ByteDance also points out that 60% of its shares are owned by a number of global investment firms and insists that it is not a Chinese company.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted in March to give ByteDance six months to sell TikTok to non-Chinese owners or block the app in the U.S., but the bill is still pending in the Senate. Waiting for approval.
Founded by Chinese entrepreneurs in 2012, ByteDance first became a huge hit in China with its short video app Douyin. A year later, he launched an international version of TikTok.
The social media app was banned in China but gained 1 billion users in five years.
image source, Getty Images
It is currently operated by a limited liability company based in Los Angeles and Singapore, but is effectively owned by ByteDance.
The founders own just 20% of ByteDance shares, but they control the company. About 60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors, including major U.S. investment firms such as General Atlantic, Susquehanna, and Sequoia Capital.
The remaining 20% is owned by employees around the world. Three of the five board members are American.
But the Chinese government's control over private companies in recent years has made the United States concerned about how much control the Chinese Communist Party has over ByteDance and the data it holds.
TikTok emphasized that U.S. data is ring-fenced and stored on Oracle servers in the United States.
Ahead of Saturday's vote, the bill's co-author, Republican lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi, told the BBC's World Business Report program that he wanted the app to continue.
“I think there’s still a lot of good content out there,” he said. “But most importantly, it is not under the control or operation of a hostile state.”
